TWiTIoT: This Week in The Internet of Things –Infrastructure Options Expand

Greetings, and welcome. This week, encouraging news of coming enhancements to the global IoT infrastructure – including, we can but hope, consistent, effective cyber security. As always, your thoughts, reactions, and suggestions welcome. Just send a quick email to medortch@dortchonit.com. And for more on the IoT and IIoT, check out “DortchOnIT’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Weekly.” Thanks.

Sprint, Ericsson Partner for Dedicated IoT Network

What Happened: Sprint and Ericsson announced plans to build an IoT-optimized core network and companion operating system.

As Techphliereported, the two companies “have announced a global relationship to build a distributed and virtualized core network” and “a world-class IoT operating system” The environment is designed to provide “an optimal flow of device data, enabling immediate, actionable intelligence at the network edge for end users and enterprises.”

The core network will be built to deliver high availability with low latency. The distributed, virtualized architecture will reduce the distance separating data-generating devices and data-consuming applications. Processing nodes on enterprise premises will be an available option, “if necessary, to support specific security, privacy and latency requirements.”

The IoT operating system will offer developers a platform able to consume “enormous amounts of data while delivering immediate intelligence on that data.” It will also support management of device firmware and software configurations and updates, and chip-level security.

What It Means: The combined technological strengths of Sprint and Ericsson could result in an IoT platform that delivers on all of the above promises. Such an environment would be a significant boon to the growth of multiple IoT markets, especially if the promises about security and updates are kept.

What You Should Do: If you manufacture IoT devices or services, or you are pursuing or considering an IoT device or service deployment, you should definitely stay abreast of these developments. This is especially true if you already have a business relationship with Sprint, Ericsson, or both. This could turn out to be a significant enabler of secure, powerful IoT applications, devices, and services. Keep in mind, though, that there will be other alternatives. (See “TWiTIoT: This Week in The Internet of Things – Better Security for IoT Devices. For Users? Not So Much.”)

Scotland Set to Build the UK’s “Most Advanced” IoT Network

What Happened: Scotland announced a £6-million project intended to build the “most advanced” IoT network in the UK.

As Holyrood (“Scotland’s award-winning current affairs magazine”) reported, Scotland government agencies and a private company will invest £6 million in “IoT Scotland.” The network will eschew cellular and Wi-Fi technologies and instead will use “LoRa (long range), a wireless technology that uses certain radio bands to communicate over long distances at low power and low cost.”

The Scottish Government and two economic development agencies will invest just £2.8 million of the £6 million. The balance will come from Boston Networks, a Scotland-based company focused on “the design, installation, and support of smart buildings, smart campuses, and smart cities.”

“Initially, the network will cover Scotland’s seven cities, Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and Stirling, with the aim of expanding it throughout Scotland.” The project is projected to take three years.

“Ian Reid, CEO of CENSIS, the Scottish center for sensor and imaging systems, highlighted predictions that there will be 25 billion IoT devices connected by 2025, with only a small number using 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi. He added: ‘Low-power wide-area networks like IoT Scotland are going to become increasingly important – they have the potential to be as disruptive to businesses as the internet has been already to our daily lives.’”

What It Means: The IoT and the build-out of IoT infrastructure is a global phenomenon. Governments and private enterprise can, should, and must partner to encourage and support development and growth of infrastructures that are accessible, interoperable, reliable, and secure.

What You Should Do: If you do business in Scotland or the UK, keep tabs on this project, and expect others to arise across the UK and all of Europe. If your business crosses multiple borders or service areas, keep a sharp eye on what those behind these various projects say and do about security and interoperability.

To go mainstream worldwide, automobiles needed networks of roads and fueling stations. The web needed (and still needs in far too many places) pervasive, affordable access to bandwidth. The promise

Michael Dortch

As an IT industry analyst, consultant, journalist, and marketer, Michael Dortch has been translating bits and bytes into dollars and sense for four decades. His areas of expertise include strategic content planning, development, and creation, core content execution, and social media and online community development and outreach. Michael has helped to launch new products, enable sales teams, influence influencers, and grow web site traffic, prospects, leads, and positive perceptions for companies large and small. He also enjoys cooking, eating, traveling, and singing.